Chicago Mayor Tries to Poach Oregon Companies because of Measure 66

$0.00.

BTW, I am surprised you refer to child-abuse as "business practices". I guess it eases your conscience when you defend it in those terms.

I've never been so desperate, greedy, or morally weak that I had to compromise my character for profit. Being self-employed I choose who I do or do not work with. I've walked away from several clients who were racists, or dishonest, for example.

I'm not good at pretending to like people who I abhor, so it would only hurt my business to accept clients who are "bad people" by my standards. Realtors in Oregon are required by law to operate on a higher level ethically and legally, than most occupations. Our business is built on honesty and trust. I operate almost exclusively on referral business.

Many of my peers in the community would probably blacklist me also. Character standards are high here. Word gets around.

Since it's clear your life is driven by dollar signs, I'm curious how evil a person would have to be for you to tell him to find another person to hire? Would you help a Wall St embezzler? A corporation convicted of massive intentional pollution? One who discriminates against women in their hiring practices? Where do you draw the line? Or do you have a line?

 

I bet you're wrong.

The world is a big place with all kinds of cultural mores and business practices. I wouldn't want my child to work in a Nike factory, but I'm not going to make that decision for someone living in squalor in SE Asia. I would imagine whether the child works or not is the difference between eating and going hungry for the family.

Well, you worked for the government for years, so actually you were a leech on those of us who have actually spent our lives producing. I'm interested in the concept that people who were racists and dishonest saw enough of themselves in you that they wished to work with you. Kindred spirits, I guess.

I've been a licensed Realtor in Oregon for over 20 years, although you and I work in different areas. I work in commerical RE. Residential real estate is full of the most unethical people I've ever met. Please don't pretend that designation denotes any kind of nobility. The barrier to entry for a residential Realtor is some hair gel and a photo on a business card.

Nice try. My life is driven by ideas. Remember that when you worked for the Government, your salary was paid by all kinds of reprobates simply because they were taxpayers. I don't see you returning a portion of your paycheck and retirement package.

I, on the other hand, have always chosen with whom I've worked. I've never taken government money, with the exception of my public school education, which I'm quite certain I've repaid with tax money. You keep on living your lie, however.

 

YOU'VE NEVER BEEN TO CHICAGO.

 

LOL.

 

You mean like Intel and their gigantic tax break they got for building a plant out here?

Would you like me to list some other companies in Oregon that got tax breaks?

Companies move to PDX typically for two reasons:

1) Standard of living is usually better than the huge cities.
2) Cost of living is usually lower. Especially when compared to places like LA, NY, Chicago, etc.

Companies typically move to the big city because that's where the other big businesses are and that's where the people live that will work in their companies.

Besides, if taxes were that big of a deal, all of the corps would've moved to the Caymans years ago and the Caribbean would be the most populous area on the Earth.

Chicago benefited from being an industrial and meat slaughtering hub in the early part of the 20th century. It certainly has not been growing by leaps and bounds simply because of its tax status.

 

Intel--as part of that agreement--also agreed to pay Washington County $1,000 per employee per year for bringing in workers that would strain the County resources. An addendum to that agreement raised the price to $1,700 per year per employee. I can't recall the last time someone had to pay to increase employment.

Chicago has grown because it's pro-business. Businesses locate where they're wanted. I don't see Portland attracting many business lately. Too often, profit-making ventures here are viewed as "the enemy" rather than a source of jobs and income. It's too bad.

 

You don't. Small businesses are much more stable, and usually have better overall benefits and working environments. They have a personal stake in the community, not just a financial one. They don't have their lawyers look for ways to sponge off the taxpayers or to "get around laws and regulations. They don't threaten to move every few years, as Nike has repeatedly done. They don't "own" your elected representatives, as Nike does.

Nothing sustainable about Nike, in terms of Oregon anyway.

The bulk of their 30,000 employees are out of state or country, they contract most of their labor from forced child labor camps run by criminal governments. They do not pay their share of taxes, they set a horrid example of business ethics which stains our state's reputation.

And I've never met an Oregonian who wanted a "large populace".

#1 reason people move to Oregon is to get away from all the crime, pollution, greed and hate that evolves in all large gatherings of human beings.

 

And now the #1 reason people move to Oregon is to get away from jobs. Keep Portland Weird!

 

Except we still have a lot of those big city problems in Portland, without any of the big city benefits.

 

Yes, I already knew you had, but your post does "suggest" that you haven't, as you claim to think they are similar. They are not.

 

Ohh, reading comprehension alert. Read this thread again and reconsider whether or not I believe Portland or Chicago are "similar". I was talking about comparable areas, meaning urban loft to urban loft, upscale suburb to upscale suburb and working class neighborhood to working class neighborhood.

 

It's older, it's bigger. and a humongous transportation hub, so that makes sense. New York is even older, bigger, and humongouser.

And I understand that different people have different wants and needs and are attracted to different things. No accounting for taste, or lack of it.

I also understand many people sacrifice their wants and needs for the promise of mindless accumulation of riches, and end up regretting it in the end.

 

Well, it's a Kellogg link. What can you expect from a University where the "N" stands for "Nowledge". (The U of C and Northwestern are rivals, at least on an academic basis).

 

So now people that make $125k are the wealthy elite?

I can understand the outrage of CEO's who make millions of dollars annually...but why hit the people makingg 125k? Why not set the limit at $500k or something? All this does is widen the gap b\t the have's and have not's...you think some CEO who made $10 million a year gives a rip about another 2%? Yet it hits the guy making 125k a lot harder. But of course, democrats & unions can't get to thier magical numbers just by taxing those making obscene amounts of money now can they.....

Can't wait to see Democrats roll out another save our schools blah blah blah campaign and asking Oregonians to foot another tax hike to stave it off....what a joke...

 

Sounds like you just described beautiful Bend Oregon . . . what's the unemployment rate down there again? Talk about sponging off taxpayers . . . is it fair to chase a dream in central Oregon and when the dream doesn't hit you count on the gov't to help you get by till you get another job in central Oregon. People filing for extended unemplyment benefits (Bend is way up there if not tops per capita) should be required to relocate to the tri-county area where they have a real chance of getting a job.

The reality is that for as much as you bad mouth Beaverton and Nike, Beaverton is financially secure and Nike creates a lot of jobs that provides for a more robust Oregon economy.

 

Sad thing is the Chicago Mayor is a democrat. I sometimes think Oregon is more than just democrat state . . . it is way way out left.

 

(My replies are the bold statements.)

 

I must have forgotten you are a commercial agent. You compare box to box.

As a residential agent in one of the most beautiful spots on Earth, environment and aesthetics (both immediate and general) are at least half of the value of the home. My clients describe their desired setting (solitude, riverside, mountain view...) before they describe their housing needs. In this regard, there is simply no comparison at all.

 

To most people, yes.

That is just how enormous the class separation in America has become.